Ibanez JEM70V Steve Vai Electric Guitar Review

Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

The Ibanez JEM70V electric guitar is the second instrument in the Steve Vai Signature series from Ibanez. Steve Vai is a revered player who, through his ground breaking guitar designs, has changed the way we all think a guitar can be played.

Guitars in this signature line are known to be sublime, iconic, awe inspiring and downright outrageous and the JEM70V is no exception. The guitar is suitable for a wide variety of music styles from Rock to Funk, making it ideal for all situations. This is an Ibanez gem, after all is said. It offers absolute comfort, exquisite access and it is very responsive.

The guitar is appropriate for both amateur and professional use, as Steve Vai used it during his last tour. However, it does a better job of getting the best out of the quickest, most intricate players than it does for the beginner.

The Ibanez JEM70V SFG electric guitar at a glance

Built to Steve Vai’s performance requirements

Edge Tremolo for high precision tuning performance

Effortless playability with the quickest playing neck on the market

Design

The Ibanez JEM70V electric guitar is a spectacularly designed instrument with a smoothly contoured body. Its five piece walnut and maple neck is hard bolted on the body and provides easy access to the registers.

The rosewood fret board is fitted with 24 frets and is colorfully adorned with a blue “Tree of Life Pattern” in a dark background. The neck has the JEM Prestige high speed profile that provides the playability that Steve Vai envisions. The body design includes Steve Vai’s Monkey Grip cut out.

The JEM70V SFG is equipped with the DiMarzio Evolution DP158 humbuckerr in its neck position, the DiMarzio DPS1 single coil in the middle and a DiMarzio Evo2 DP159 in the guitar’s bridge. The pickup combination consists of an array of ceramic magnets that generate a wide range of sounds needed for modern Rock music.

The DiMarzio Evolution DP158 was specifically designed for Steve Vai and is fat, punchy and loud while the DPS1 single coil has a clean, bright tone. On the other hand, the Evo2 DP159 is louder, tighter and more aggressive than the other two humbuckers. It produces a wide array of overtones. The whole set up was clearly designed to produce incredible tonal variety and it does not disappoint in this respect.

Materials used

The Ibanez JEM70V-SFG electric guitar is constructed from carefully selected materials to Ibanez’s standard, including Ibanez’s signature American basswood body. The guitar has a 5 piece walnut/maple neck reinforced with KTS Titanium and topped with a rosewood fret and fingerboard.

It is fitted with high quality hardware we have come to expect from Ibanez, including Chrome Hardware and an Edge Bridge. The basswood body has a flat top and a double cutaway. It has a green sea foam color with a glossy finish while the rosewood fingerboard is black with a light green leaf motif.

The edge tremolo’s low profile design includes inconveniently angled back fine tuners to prevent accidental touches by the right hand. Players can easily raise or lower pitches thanks to the Lion’s Claw Tremolo cavity.

Is the Ibanez JEM70V right for you?

There is no doubting the quality of the JEM70V, Steve Vai has certainly created a guitar that exceeds expectations here. If you are a beginner to intermediate player and you want to spend as much as this for a guitar, then you will certainly learn and benefit from it and enjoy playing it too.

But the more experienced player is going to have a lot of fun playing this, and the sound and playability it provides is really very impressive. Overall, this is a very well made guitar, who’s sound equals its looks and quality.